6.  The applicant was born in 1985 and lives in Debrecen.
7.  On 10 July 2010 the applicant arrived at Záhony border crossing point – situated on the Ukrainian-Hungarian border – and attempted to cross the border to Hungary in possession of a travel document issued by the Lebanese government for Palestinian refugees which he presented to the officials of the Border Policing Field Unit. In the course of border control, the Hungarian authorities found that a Greek residence permit in the travel document was blank and the exit stamp forged. He was placed under short term arrest and interviewed with the assistance of a translator. In the interview, apart from presenting his personal particulars, the applicant told the authority that he had come from a refugee camp in Tripoli, Lebanon, explained his travel route, and stated that he was not aware of the fact that his passport had been forged.
8.  On the same date he submitted an asylum application. He referred to the security problems he had to face in Lebanon, requested the examination of his situation and relied on the fact that he was a stateless person, a Palestinian from a refugee camp.
9.  The case was subsequently taken over by the Alien Policing Department of the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Police Headquarters. On 13 July 2010 this department forwarded the applicant’s asylum request to the Asylum Authority of the Office of Immigration and Nationality (“OIN”).
10.  Meanwhile, still on 10 July 2010 the Border Policing Field Unit sent an enquiry to the OIN to find out whether the principle of “non‑refoulement” was applicable in the applicant’s case and his expulsion to Ukraine should be halted. OIN replied in the negative. Subsequently the applicant’s expulsion to Ukraine was ordered together with the imposition of a two-year entry ban, as sanction for illegal border crossing. The expulsion order was in essence based on the Readmission Agreement between Hungary and Ukraine and the non-applicability of the “non‑refoulement” principle. Simultaneously, the execution of the expulsion was however suspended until the necessary means and conditions were secured, but for not longer than six months. The applicant’s alien policing detention was then ordered for 72 hours on the ground that the police had initiated his deportation and that it was necessary to keep him under the authorities’ supervision, as a measure to secure the intended expulsion, pending the Ukrainian authorities’ reply to the Hungarian return initiative. Section 54(1) (b) of the Third Country Nationals Act (see below) was referred to in the decision as the legal ground for the detention, but without substantiating any relevant factual element. The applicant was committed to the Nyírbátor alien policing facility.
11.  On 12 July 2010 the police filed a motion based on section 54(3) of the Third Country Nationals Act (see below) with the Nyírbátor District Court for an extension of the duration of the alien policing detention beyond the 72-hour time-limit. According to the motion, the reason for prolongation was the fact that the applicant had applied for asylum, which rendered unenforceable his readmission to Ukraine and thus his expulsion. His detention was argued to be necessary until the requirements for his expulsion could be secured.
12.  On the same day the court granted the extension until the execution of expulsion was possible or until 8 August 2010. It found that it was necessary to extend the alien policing detention, which, in the court’s view, had lawfully been ordered under section 55 of the Third Country Nationals Act (see below) although the police had in fact never relied on this provision. It took into account the circumstances of the applicant’s interception, his forged travel documents and the fact that the Ukrainian authorities had agreed to his readmission, although due to the pending asylum application it could not be implemented. Sections 54(1)(b), 54(3) and 58(2) of the Third Country Nationals Act constituted the legal ground for the decision, which was final.
13.  The applicant renewed his application for asylum on 14 July 2010.
14.  On 23 July, 31 August, 4 and 29 October 2010 the District Court further prolonged the applicant’s detention, without hearing him. On each occasion, it held that the initial reasons for detention given in the first court ruling were still in place, without giving any further elements.
The applicant submitted that during his incarceration he had challenged his detention on several occasions, requesting that he be relocated to an open reception centre.
15.  The preliminary interview of the applicant in the asylum procedure was conducted on 21 July 2010. On 26 July 2010 the OIN’s Asylum Authority referred the application to the in-merit procedure, establishing its admissibility for the purposes of section 55(1) of the Asylum Act (see below). Despite this fact, he remained in alien policing detention, although under section 56(1) of the Asylum Act, meritorious asylum seekers are in principle entitled to accommodation in an open refugee reception centre.
16.  According to section 55(3) of the Asylum Act, once the asylum application has been referred to the in-merit procedure, the alien policing authority shall, at the initiative of the asylum authority, terminate the detention of the asylum seeker’s detention. In the applicant’s case, however, no such initiative was put in place until 23 November 2010.
17.  On 25 October 2010 the Asylum Authority dismissed the applicant’s asylum claim, while establishing that the principle of “non-refoulement” was applicable. When the application was introduced to the Court, judicial review of this decision was still under way.
18.  On 29 October 2010 the District Court again extended the applicant’s detention until the implementation of his expulsion or until 6 December 2010, confirming that the initial reasons for the alien policing detention were still in place.
19.  On 18 November 2010 the applicant’s lawyer requested the court to terminate the applicant’s detention. He referred to the Asylum Authority’s decision entailing “non-refoulement”. No ruling has been given by the court on this request.
20.  On 23 November 2010 the Asylum Authority finally initiated the termination of the applicant’s detention. It referred to its decision of 25 October 2010 in which it had established that the principle of “non‑refoulement” was applicable. It relied on section 55(3) of the Asylum Act. On the same day the police desisted from expelling the applicant and released him.